An indescribable sensation took possession of him; he felt that his
step was less steady, and that his head was growing hot and his hands
cold; and somehow he knew that whereas the idea of love was altogether
beyond and out of the question, yet he was spellbound in the charm of a
new and mysterious attraction. With it there was the instantaneous
certainty that it was evil, with the equally sure knowledge that if it
grew upon him but a few moments longer he should not be able to resist
it.
Eleanor would not have been a woman had she not understood.
"What is the matter?" she asked gently, and under her hood she was
smiling.
"The matter?" Gilbert spoke nervously. "There is nothing the matter;
why do you ask?"
"Your arm trembled," answered the Queen.
"I suppose I was afraid that you were going to fall."
At this the Queen laughed aloud.
"Are you so anxious for my safety as that?" she inquired.
Gilbert did not answer at once.
"It seems so strange," he said at last, "that your Grace should choose
to be abroad alone so late at night."
"I am not alone," she answered.
At that moment her foot seemed to slip, and her hand tightened suddenly
upon Gilbert's arm. But as he thought her in danger of falling, he
caught her round the waist and held her up; and, as he almost clasped
her to him, the mysterious influence strengthened his hold in a most
unnecessary manner.
"I never slip," said Eleanor, by way of explaining the fact that she
had just stumbled.
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